Chairman of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry's (FPCCI) Standing Committee on Agriculture Produce, Ahmad Jawad, has suggested that the price of sunflower and other oilseed crops should be fixed at optimum level for at least three years so as to bring down the import bill on edible oil which stood at $2.5bn in 2013.
Highlighting the significance of oilseed crops in reducing the country's dependence on imported edible oil, he deplored that no measures were taken to help boost the production of the crops by the government as well as the agriculture-based associations.
In fact, farmers generally prefer sugarcane and rice production because of better returns on their investment, he said, adding that the farmers, who go for cultivating sunflower, often feel disgusted as they are left at the mercy of the market.
Jawad said that although the Pakistan Oilseed Development Board (PODB), which was disbanded in 2012 following passage of the 18th Amendment, has been revived, its mandate has been squeezed to only look after the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and the federal capital.
He was of the opinion that oilseed crops like mustard, sunflower, canola, etc. lacked congenial investment climate in the country's provinces.
He said that although Sindh has been contributing heavily towards the production of sunflower and other oilseed crops, the officials of the provincial agriculture department did not focus on crops that are of short duration the Rabi season.
Moreover, growers did not get adequate price for sunflower and mustard crops as their prices usually ranged between Rs1,400 and 1,500 per 40kg, he said, adding that only last year, the average price of the two crops, went up to Rs2200-2300. He said that although the support price for wheat is largely secured under the government's procurement policy, there is no such cover for oilseeds crops.
Quoting official figures, he said that sunflower acreage dropped to 383,000 acres in 2013-14 from 1.1m acres in 2010-11. As far as Sindh is concerned, it cultivated the crop on 308,000 acres and harvested 137,602 metric tones, he added.
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